Veriato Press Releases

Companies Doubt Ability to Detect & Respond to Ransomware Attacks

Sep 29, 2017

PALM BEACH GARDENS, Fla.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Companies aren’t very confident in their ability to detect, respond to and remediate ransomware attacks, according to the 2017 Ransomware Report, sponsored by user behavior analytics and activity monitoring company Veriato and 13 other companies and conducted by Crowd Research Partners.

Of the cybersecurity professionals surveyed, 33 percent said they had already suffered from a ransomware attack. Yet, 56 percent lack confidence in their company’s ability to remediate ransomware, while about 60 percent of respondents are moderately to slightly confident or not confident at all in their company’s ability to detect and block ransomware. The main problems in dealing with ransomware include a lack of budget and no defined incident response team.

“Companies need to do a better job preparing for potential cybersecurity attacks, because one day, you will be targeted,” said Larry Thompson, president of Veriato. “It’s shocking that even though 33 percent of companies have already had a ransomware attack, too many doubt their ability to prevent or remediate those attacks, and a large number of companies aren't putting the teams in place at all to help deal with an attack if it happens."

The survey findings also show that companies are slow in detecting and recovering from attacks. Only 24 percent of respondents believe their company can detect attacks in real time. In addition, only 31 percent feel their company could recover from an attack within a few hours.

"Even more alarming is the fact that 22 percent don't believe they are likely to be attacked in the next year, and 7 percent believe they will not be attacked," Thompson added. "These are the types of companies that aren't making the effort to prepare to detect, respond to and remediate these threats, so when they are hit, the ramifications in lost time, money and resources will be extremely material."

The 2017 Ransomware Report was commissioned by Cybersecurity Insiders, and is based on a survey of more than 500 cybersecurity professionals. The survey is the most comprehensive research on ransomware to date, studying how corporate IT and security professionals are dealing with ransomware threats, and how well organizations are preparing to better protect their companies’ data and IT infrastructure.

About Veriato

Veriato is an innovator in actionable User Behavior Analytics and a global leader in User Activity Monitoring. More than 40,000 companies, schools, and government entities worldwide utilize Veriato to gain insight into the user activity on their networks and benefit from the security and productivity increases that come with it.